Cape Cross - About

In 1486, Diogo Cáo, an early Portuguese explorer, erected a cross on a small rocky outcrop along the desolate and forbidding wastes of the Namibian skeleton Coast. Battered by sudden squalls and fierce windstorms, blasted by shifting desert sands, baked by a relentless sun, shrouded with dense fogs, the cross stood undisturbed by Europeans for four centuries.

Throughout subsequent years Cape Cross silently witnessed numerous shipwrecks and other maritime dramas, haughtily watched the birth and death of a guano industry, sadly eyed the slaughter of its seals and now looks with hope to the tourists who come to marvel at its wonder.

Today, a replica of that first cross stands proud in a terraced landscape; a tribute to those seafarers who landed on a stretch of coast as unique, as remarkable, as intriguing as it will always remain. Cape Cross Lodge is located right on the edge of the cold fertile Atlantic Ocean; a serene haven for visitors to this vast untamed, seldom-explored wilderness.

The fascinating lichen fields of the area include all six species, while pensive reflection will reveal the “Little Five” – the reptiles, birds, insects, scavengers and carnivores.

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